School audit to determine if anti-bullying laws work

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KGO) -- California lawmakers want to know if anti-bullying laws are working. So now they are heading to the classroom to find out.

High school senior Calen Valencia knows all too well what bullying is like. Despite years of tough anti-bullying laws in California, some in place for more than a decade, Valencia says he feels as though schools are doing a poor job of helping students like him.
"Teachers never really stepped in and I didn't know how to handle the situation," Valencia said.

The Joint Legislative Audit Committee is finally doing something about it. Assemblyman Ricardo Lara has gotten approval for an audit of every public school and local education agency in the state to examine whether anti-bullying and harassment laws have been implemented.